Communication Studies, Department of

 

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Accessibility Remediation

If you are unable to use this item in its current form due to accessibility barriers, you may request remediation through our remediation request form.

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

Text and Performance Quarterly 3:2–3 (2016), pp. 95–114.

doi: 10.1080/10462937.2016.1158415

Comments

Copyright © 2016 National Communication Association; published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.

Abstract

This essay argues that recent male performances of disaster preparedness in reality television recuperate a preindustrial model of hegemonic masculinity by staging the plausible “real world” conditions under which manly skills appear necessary for collective survival. Representations of masculinity in uncertain times intensify the masculinity-in-crisis motif to cultivate anticipation of an apocalyptic event that promises a final resolution to male alienation. An examination of Nat Geo’s Doomsday Preppers illustrates how these staged performances of everyday life cultivate a dangerous vision of apocalyptic manhood that consummates a fantasy of national virility in the demise of feminine society.

Share

COinS